Poblano Duck with Charred Corn Polenta

Poblano Duck with Charred Corn Polenta

I have fallen in love… with a chili.  A poblano chili, to be specific.  Two weeks ago I dined at Birch and Barley on 14th Street in DC, and tried a bite of the grouper and I was intrigued by the flavor tucked underneath the flaky fish.  I was blown away by the pure flavor from the beautifully green poblano puree at the base of the plate.  I had enjoyed poblanos previously only in chili rellenos… so filled with gooey cheese and fried in an eggy batter.  But I had never tried it in its own puree.  I had to replicate it somehow, but make the dish my own.

A few days later, the dish started to develop.  I decided on a poblano tequila puree, cuz why the hell not throw some tequila in there?  Then I realized the chili may be too spicy, so lets cut it down… what is fresh and in season?  Peaches!  Then I wanted to bring in a rich protein, so duck was a natural, that I would marinade in a citrus blend of fresh orange and lime.  Finally, I wanted a little smokiness to the dish with some contrasting color… so I decided on a charred corn polenta with toasted pine nuts.  The idea was created, and it was time to see how it would turn out.

Ingredients

Duck
2 duck breasts, skin on
3 oranges
3 limes
3 ancho chilies (dried poblanos)
4 cardamom pods

Puree
4 poblano chilies
1 peach
2 oz anejo tequila
1/2 lemon

Charred Corn Polenta
2 cups polenta, or corn grits
4 cups water
4 cups heavy cream
1-1.5 stick unsalted butter
3 ears of corn
1/3 cup pine nuts
Salt for flavor

Preparation

1) Generously salt duck breasts on both sides, and marinate in the juices and rinds of limes and oranges.  Dice ancho chilies and add to the marinade.  Smash cardamom pods and add to marinade.  Store in refrigerator… the longer the better (I marinated for 6ish hours).

2) Char poblano chilies until cooked and outer layer completely blackened.  I do not have a grill that gets hot enough to do this (I HATE the electric grill at our building!! (first world problems)).  So I put down a little tinfoil on our gas range, and did it on the stove!  Peel outer charred layer, removing all black char… this is important to get the great green color you are looking for.  Peel skin from peach, and cook in a dollop of melted butter.  Add tequila and cook off alcohol.  BEWARE: your pan will catch fire, but that is just the alcohol burning off… chill out.  The last thing you want is fire extinguisher chemicals in your puree.  Combine chilies, peach/butter/tequila, and juice from half lemon into food processor and puree thoroughly.

  

3) Char the corn, similar to poblano chilies, until cooked thoroughly.  Mine were pretty much burnt, but frickin delicious. Cut from the cob, and set aside for later.

4) Remove duck breasts from marinade, and place in a lightly buttered skillet on low/medium-low, with the skin side down.  The trick here, as advised by my friend and duck hook up Jason at Cork Market, is low and slow.  So you want to cook it until the duck fat renders and you get a nice golden crispy layer of duck skin (aka fat), 12-17 minutes.  After you get that golden crisp, flip the duck and increase the heat to a medium and cook until you get a nice sear, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat, and let sit for a few minutes.

5) In a small pot, take the remaining citrus rinds, juices, cardamom pods, and chilis and fill with water.  Bring to boil and simmer while the duck is cooking.  This can be drained and used later to drizzle over the duck for additional flavor.

6)  While the duck is rendering, bring liquid polenta ingredients to a boil in a medium pot.  Add polenta and a stick of butter, reduce heat a bit and stir continuously.  Toast pine nuts and add to pot.  Once you get the consistency you want (more firm for polenta, more runny for grits), add corn and pine nuts, and remove from heat.

7) Plate and enjoy!

  

Beet-Leek Tortellini with Sugar Snap Peas and Summer Corn

---

Beet-Leek Tortellini with Sugar Snap Peas and Summer Corn

So I just purchased a pasta roller, and had to cook something… immediately! I decided on tortellini.

Legend has it that Venus, goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility and prosperity, once stayed in Castelfranco Emilia, a sall town between Modena and Bologna.  The innkeeper of the tavern she stayed at often spied on his guests through a small peep hole in each door. As he peered into the room of Venus, he was blown away by her beauty and grace.  In complete awe, he had to attempt to recreate her.  So he went to the kitchen and rolled out a sheet of fresh egg pasta and folded it in the shape of her navel.

Every year, Castelfranco Emilia celebrates the creation of the tortellini with an annual festival.  Just as beautiful as the tastes of  tortellini, is the process of making the tortellini. The Italian families come together every year and spend the time together folding the tortellini.

While we weren’t celebrating the annual tortellini festival in Castelfranco Emilia, I found myself in the kitchen of Ripple learning to fold tortellini about two months ago.  It was a quiet night at the restaurant and what do we do when things are quiet?  Prep.  In the room adjacent to the kitchen we all gathered and Isial, the legendary pasta maker at Ripple, was leading the way as the rest of us straggled behind folding tortellini here and there.  While we may not share the same love as Italian families, we all shared smiles and good conversation.

Filling

1 Beet
½ Cup Leek
¼ Cup Heavy Cream

Pasta

3-4 Cups Flour
3 Eggs
3Tbsp Water
1Tbsp Oil
1 pinch of salt

Side

3 ears Corn
2-3 Cup Fresh Sugar Peas
¼ Cup Pine Nuts
1 Lemon
½-¾ Cup Mint
½ Cup Goatcheese

Preparation:

1. Cut stem from beet and boil in lightly salted water until tender to center with fork.  Once cooked, remove outer skin from beet.  Meanwhile, cook leek and sauté with butter or oil, pepper, and salt until light brown occurs (5-7 minutes).  Blend beet, leek, and heavy cream in a blender.  Salt/pepper to taste.
2. Combine liquid pasta ingredients, and slowly add flour (usually ¼-½ cup at a time). Once your ingredients combine and develop a dough like consistency, roll dough out with roller (if you do not have a roller, an empty wine bottle with the wrapper removed works fine). Once dough is rolled out, cut dough into 6 inch wide pieces and roll through pasta roller.  Start at level 1, and end at 6 or 7.  Once dough is thin enough, lay out and cut with 2-3 inch circular cookie cutter.
3. Fill individual pieces of pasta with filling using a piping bag.  It is important not to put in too much filling.  I recommend ½ – 1 tsp.  Youtube videos on how to fold tortellini.  (No shame in telling you to youtube this, no way I can explain how to fold tortellini via text)
4. Boil tortellini until they float.  1-3 Minutes
5. Sauté sugar peas and corn with butter.  Add in cooked tortellini directly.
6. Garnish with lemon zest, pine nuts, fresh chopped mint, and goat cheese.
7. Enjoy

Savory Oatmeal

Savory Oatmeal

One of the most endearing parts about living with three women is helping them through their hangovers.  On several occasions, I would be in my room on a Sunday morning reading The Post when Jenna would open my door with a big groan and flop into my bed with a big sigh.  “Speeeencerr!!  I am hungover!”  I would burst out into laughter, but not too loud to hurt her piercing headache.  I would fold my paper and politely reply “Breakfast will be in twenty!”  Chances were she wasn’t the only hungover person in our house that needed some comfort food for the road to recovery. 

Ingredients

2 cups steel cut oats
4 cups water
4 eggs (1 per person)
1-2 bags of spinach
1-2 cloves garlic
1-2 cups swiss cheese (depends how cheesy you want it, or how hungover you are)
Salt and Pepper to flavor

Preparation

1) Bring water and oats to a boil in a medium pot.  Stir occasionally. 

2) In a medium sauce pan, coat the bottom with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat.  Add  garlic, sliced or minced.  Sautée until garlic just starts to brown and add spinach.  Try and put a cover over it to allow the steam to cook the spinach.  Once the spinach is thoroughly cooked, add all the contents to the pot with the oats.  

3) In a medium-high heat, crack eggs into a medium sauce pan coated with olive oil.  Cook until bubbles start to form in white areas and you can flip easily with spatula.  Remove egg thirty seconds after the flip to room temperature plate ensure the yolk doesn’t cook. 

4) One the oatmeal has developed the consistency you prefer in your oatmeal, add the cheese and stir thoroughly.  Scoop into individual bowls, and add eggs.  I like spice, whenever I can get it, so I treat my bowl to a tablespoon of Cava Harissa. 

5) Enjoy!

Old Bay Mussels with Granny Parsley Purée

---

Old Bay Mussels with Granny Parsley Purée 

I must be honest.  It was hot, and muggy… and I may have had a beer or two at Dacha Beer Garden.  Thanks to my friend Anne working at the bar, I may have had one or two more then I had planned.  Not sure if it was the heat or the beer, but my hunger hit and I wanted to try something funky.  I asked for the tab, mounted my single-speed bike and peddled to the Whole Foods on P street on the way home. I didn’t want to spend too much money, but wanted something summery, light, and refreshing.

I was greeted at Whole Foods by the usual fresh fruits and vegetables.  I closely examined the veggies, looking for inspiration.  Soon I had a leek in my hand.  I had never cooked with a leek, so why the hell not.  I grabbed a bunch of parsley and walked towards the proteins.  Before I could walk five steps, this beautiful granny smith apple was calling my name.  I grabbed it without thinking, but looking back it was the best decision I made.  I made my way to the proteins, and wanted to keep it cheap.  Easy, I will get mussels.

Mussels were discovered out of desperation.  Nearly 900 years ago, a man (stories suggest a Frenchman and a Scotman, so I will let you choose whether the Scots or French discovered these guys) was shipwrecked and desperate for food.  He put a pole and a makeshift net into the water to attempt to catch some fish.  When he pulled the poles up the next day, he found these barnacles and mussels attached.

Ingredients

1 Leek
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 bunch Parsley
1/2 lemon
1 cup greek yogurt
2 lb mussels
1/4 cup old bay
1 light beer

Preparation:

1) Remove outer layer of leek, and clean thoroughly.  Dice leek and sauté in olive oil.  Spice with salt and pepper, and and red chili flakes if you like a little heat.

2) Peel granny smith apple, cut into small pieces, and remove the core.  Add to sauté pan with leek, cook until apple pieces are soft and leek is starting to brown.

3) Transfer contents of sauté pan to food processor.  Add greek yogurt, parsley, and juice of 1/2 lemon.

4) In a medium sauté pan, bring half of the beer to a boil, and enjoy the other half.  Add old bay and mussels. Cover pan, and steam until mussels open.

5) Plate your dish and enjoy!

Lamb with Cauliflower Steak, Garlic Golden Potatoes and Mint Yogurt

Lamb with Cauliflower Steak, Garlic Golden Potatoes and Mint Yogurt

Lamb reminds me of my summers spent on Sugar Island in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan with my mother’s side of the family.  Every summer my cousins would come from uptown to the island and enjoy a lamb my cousin Seldon would send to the slaughterhouse a few days earlier.  I am not sure if it was intentional, but the lamb paid a nice tribute to our Scottish heritage considering the country’s long history with farming sheep.  

We would all sit in stale orange and brown woven canvas chairs and watch the sunset over Lake Huron.  Us children would sit until a car full of new cousins would pull up, at which point we would give our seats to the adults.  While we gave up our chairs, we had better ask if the adults needed a beer, or more commonly our family drink of choice, scotch and water with a dirty index finger stir. Ahh the smell of scotch, cigarette and cigar smoke, and on the grill… The smells of nostalgia!

Ingredients

1/2 – 1 rack of lamb or on-bone lamb chop
1-2 Cauliflower
3 clove of garlic
1 pack of rosemary
1 bag of small or fingerling potatoes
1 cup greek yogurt
1 bunch of mint

Preparation

1) Preheat oven to 375.  In a mixing bowl, dress potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic.  Mix thoroughly and put in the oven for 40-45 minutes. 

2) Generously coat a medium sauce pan with butter and rosemary, and bring to medium-high heat.  Sear each side of each on-bone lamb chop for 2-3 minutes, until it gets a nice sear.  Add more butter and baste meat with butter and rosemary.  Remove from pan and put on small baking sheeet.  Reduce oven heat to 350 and place in oven until center gets to approximately 140-145 degrees.  

3) While everything else is in the oven, return sauce pan to medium-high and grill cauliflower steaks.  Just cut through the cauliflower vertically throughout the center of the cauliflower to make cauliflower steaks.  

4) In a food processor, process mint and yogurt.  Add water or a little olive oil for thinner consistency.

5) Plate and enjoy! 

Chicken Liver Pâté with a Port Tarragon Aspic

Chicken Liver Pâté with a Port Tarragon Aspic 

Who doesn’t like chicken liver pâté ?  Well, a lot of people.  But it is because they haven’t tried it.  Most people cringe at the sound of eating livers, yet they consider themselves super adventurous for trying the foie gras torchon at their local farm-to-table restaurant.  Well, guess what… foie gras is liver.  So there.

This recipe originated from my father’s rolodex.  He used to prepare it as an appetizer for fancy shmancy occasions.  I remember eating this as a young kid, and being perplexed by the richness and the smooth texture.  It was a delight!  It is something that I would completely forget about, but crave nearly a decade later, and still crave regularly today.  The best part about it is it is not too expensive!  Joke is on you for spending so much at your local restaurant for it!  It is not too hard to make, just takes a bit of time and patience.

Ingredients

Port Aspic:

2 tsp Unflavored Gelatin
1 cup Port
2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbso Water
3tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Fresh chopped Tarragon

Chicken Liver Pâté:

1 lb chicken livers
1 cup whole milk
½ cup cognac
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup chopped shallots
1 Green tart apple, peeled, cored and sliced
¼ cup sherry
¼ cup whipping cream
1 ¼ tsp salt
Juice from half a lemon

Preperation:

1) Combine livers, milk and cognac in medium bowl and soak for 1 hour.

Aspic:

2)Generously butter an 8”x4” loaf pan, coat and set adie.  Dissolve gelatin in small bowl with ¼ cup port.

3)Combine sugar and water in medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirrung until dissolved.  Cook until mixture is fark caramel color, about 8-10 minutes.  Whisk in vinegar, remaining port and tarragon.  Reduce heat and simmer about two minutes.  Add gelatin, stirring until dissolved.  Strain aspic through cheesecloth or coffee filter into prepared loaf pan.  Chill to set.

Pâté:

4) Melt half butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until cooked through with a slight brown.  Add apple and cook until softened.  Transfer mixture to food processor and blend.

5) Drain and add livers to skillet on medium high heat.  Sauté until just pink, about 10-12 minutes.  Add to food processor and blend with shallot/apple.

6) Reduce skillet to medium heat and add sherry to skillet.  Stir in all the leftover bits clinging to the pan.  Add sherry and ¼ cup cream to liver mixutre.  Puree until smooth. Let stand until lukewarm.

7) Take remaining room temperature butter and whip in a bowl until creamy.  Gradually add remaining butter into food processor.  (I do not use as much butter here as the recipe calls for.  I usually add a tbsp or two and call it a day.)

8) Mix in salt and lemon juice, and spice to flavor.

9) Pour chicken liver puree on top of the set aspic.  Let sit overnight in the fridge.

10) To remove patte from pan, run a warm knife around the edges, and invert pan onto a plate.  If the pâté does not come out, submerge pan in warm water for a few seconds and try again.  Do not leave the pan submerged in the water for too long as that will melt the aspic.  Garnis with fresh tarragon leaf.

11) Enjoy on a fresh baguette, crackers, a fork, spoon, etc.

____

Did you make too much, and don’t know what to do with it?

Try sautéing garlic in a medium sauce pan.  Add two-3 heaping spoonfuls of the pâté to the hot pan, and allow the pâté to melt a little.  Add 3 cups of freshly cooked penne pasta.  Add freshly chopped basil, and halved cherry tomatoes.  Mix thoroughly.  Top with fresh Parmesan and toasted pine nuts.